Chemical Engineering
Mitsui Chemicals announces biocatalysts production increase
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) announced that Polaris Chemicals, Inc, a subsidiary established between Mitsui Chemicals and Kasano Kosan Corporation in 2021, has begun production of biocatalysts used in the production of acrylamide. Acrylamide is a raw material for polyacrylamide, which…
Covestro starts up new elastomers plant in Shanghai
Covestro AG (Leverkusen, Germany) has started production in its new plant for polyurethane elastomers systems at its integrated site in Shanghai, China. Groundbreaking for it had been announced in summer 2022. The investment is in the double-digit million Euro range.…
Kuraray to expand EVOH production capacities in the U.S. and Europe
Kuraray Co. (Tokyo) has announced a planned increase of its globally in-demand ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer (EVOH resin; Kuraray trademark: EVAL) production capacity in its bases of operation in the United States and Europe. A total of 5,000 metric tons per…
Ineos and Sinopec complete formation of petrochemicals JV
INEOS (London) has today completed the formation of a 50/50 joint venture (JV) with Sinopec for the Tianjin Nangang Ethylene Project, announced in December 2022, which is currently under construction by SINOPEC and expected to be on-stream by April 2024.…
Metso awarded detailed engineering contract by Rio Tinto for BioIron process
Rio Tinto (London) has awarded Metso Corp. (Helsinki, Finland) a detailed design and engineering contract for their continuous pilot plant (CPP) for the BioIron process for low-carbon ironmaking. The contract is an extension of the work that Rio Tinto and…
Honeywell and ZoneFlow complete steam-reforming pilot project in Belgium
Honeywell International Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) and ZoneFlow Reactor Technologies, LLC (ZFRT; Windsor, Conn.) announced that they successfully conducted pilot plant testing of the ZoneFlow Reactor in ZFRT’s large-scale pilot plant at Université Catholique de Louvain in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. The near-commercial-level…
Evonik expands rubber silanes production in China
Evonik Industries AG (Essen, Germany) has expanded and started production at its rubber silanes plant, Evonik Lanxing (Rizhao) Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd. This state-of-the-art facility, a joint venture between Evonik Industries AG, DEG (Deutsche Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH), and Rizhao Lanxing…
Mitsui Chemicals breaks ground on new elastomers plant in Singapore
Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. (Tokyo) announced that it has held the groundbreaking ceremony for a new plant to produce the high-performance elastomer Tafmer at its Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary Mitsui Elastomers Singapore Pte Ltd (MELS). The ceremony was held on 28…
BASF announces capacity expansion for polyisobutenes
BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany) will increase the production capacity for its medium-molecular weight polyisobutenes, marketed under the tradename OPPANOL B, at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, by 25%. The investment comes in response to the rising global demand for high-quality…
Wacker completes hydrogen chloride capacity expansion at Burghausen site
Wacker Chemie AG (Munich, Germany) recently finished expanding its production of hyperpure hydrogen chloride at its Burghausen site in Germany. The facility which was commissioned in mid-July significantly increased overall production. Buyers for the newly added production volumes come from…